Morris

Jan Morris (Commentary, Feb. 10) writes that when Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union during the Civil War, his hope was that "the United States must be powerful enough to impose its example on everyone else." Does Morris really believe that Lincoln could foresee the decline of the British Empire, the rise of Germany followed by its defeat in two world wars and the Cold War that culminated in the economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union? Or is this just more blind anti-Americanism of the type that the politically correct Times loves to peddle?

Hamish Maxwell Philip Morris Cos. CEO Hamish Maxwell, 87, who steered Philip Morris Cos. in its purchase of General Foods Corp. and takeover of Kraft Inc., milestones in transforming the tobacco company into a consumer products conglomerate in the 1980s, died Saturday at his home in Palm Beach, Fla. He had bladder cancer, said his daughter Graham Russell. Maxwell spent 37 years with Philip Morris, culminating with his tenure as chairman and chief executive officer from 1984 to 1991.

Robert Griffin III isn't the only rookie sensation on the Washington Redskins' roster. Running back Alfred Morris rushed for a career-high 124 yards during the team's 17-16 victory over the New York Giants on Monday night to become only the second player in franchise history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in his first NFL season. Morris' total of 1,106 rushing yards this season is now the best in team history for a rookie player, replacing Reggie Brooks' 1,063 from 1993. The sixth-round draft pick out of Florida Atlantic is also the first Redskins player to rush for 1,000 yards since Clinton Portis in 2008.

NEW YORK - Documentarian Errol Morris has drawn some unexpected people into and around his films, and the Tuesday night premiere of his documentary “The Unknown Known” was no exception. For one thing, the movie is about Donald H. Rumsfeld, the unapologetic neo-conservative whose politics the director has been critical of. (“Why are you talking to me?” Morris asks Rumsfeld in the movie. The former Defense secretary has no real answer.) For another, there were personalities you don't normally find at a film premiere at the event Tuesday night: TV journalist Tom Brokaw stood up and introduced the film to an audience that included former New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly “He was not as unpopular as he later became,” Brokaw said of Rumsfeld, describing his own years in the 1970s covering Rumsfeld and the Defense Department.

The very qualities Morris condemns Casey for are the qualities that appealed to President Ronald Reagan: cleverness and a tenacity of purpose that would not let ethics, morality or law get in the way of pursuing his political objectives and, as it turned out, would also pursue them regardless of their wisdom or soundness. In my opinion Morris' article serves to divert guilt from the living to the dead, specifically from Reagan to Casey. RUTH SCHRAM Solvang

The agent for Bam Morris said the former Pittsburgh Steeler running back is taking a deserved second chance, but the Steelers think Morris is profiting unfairly from a drug-related suspension. Agent Steve Zucker argues it was the Steelers' choice to abandon Morris on July 10 after he was put on probation in Texas for possessing nearly six pounds of marijuana. Morris would have made $185,600 with the Steelers this season.

Wendell Morris stopped recently at a Rite Aid drugstore in Santa Monica to get a flu shot. A worker at the pharmacy said Morris' insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, didn't cover flu shots. So Morris paid about $30 out of pocket for the vaccination. He later saw the column I wrote last week about how drugstores may be misleading people about flu-shot coverage. He called Anthem to ask whether his insurance covered the vaccine. It did. Morris, 48, returned to Rite Aid and showed them my column.

I am extremely pleased by Morris' column. The article is an eye-opener based on facts and truth. I applaud Morris for writing an accurate, unbiased and balanced article, depicting our policy of dualism, deception and confusion in defining terrorism. Nobody is talking about the ongoing, organized, highly intense psychological terrorism perpetuated by Zionist lobbies against common Americans and the blackmail of most of our politicians, writers, speakers, cartoonists and other outspoken courageous Americans.

Brazil has promised to pay compensation to a U.S. pastor who was arrested, beaten and tortured in 1974 under the former military dictatorship. The Rev. Frederick Birten Morris of the United Methodist Church will be compensated $154,000 plus a monthly pension of $1,080, the Justice Ministry said. The decision was made Friday by the ministry's Amnesty Commission. Morris is the president of Faith Partners of the Americas.

Morrie Markoff is not now and has never been a man of half measures. When he saw Depression-era evictions in his New York tenement, he became a fiery political activist. When he trained as a machinist, he was top of his class. When he argued with his wife, he left nothing in the tank. There's much to be learned from people like Markoff, who died briefly in 2012, but, true to his nature, clawed his way back to life. "His heart stopped, his eyes shut, his mouth fell open and his tongue dropped out," Morrie's daughter Judy said to me in an email, adding that the grieving family retreated to Good Samaritan Hospital's meditation room.

The college offers are starting to roll in for two of Mater Dei's best juniors, tight end Kyle Penniston (Florida State, Miami, Wisconsin) and linebacker Ben Humphreys (Washington, Washington State). But the player who deserves a closer look is defensive lineman-fullback Malik McMorris, who had 10 sacks this past season playing in the tough Trinity League. He's 6 feet, 285 pounds, a top track performer in the shot put and discus and even plays junior varsity basketball. He's also an honor student.

WASHINGTON - The House Ethics Committee announced Thursday that it has extended a preliminary probe into unspecified allegations against Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the fourth-ranking House Republican who recently delivered her party's official response to the State of the Union address. The committee's action does not necessarily indicate that a violation of House rules has occurred, and McMorris Rodgers' office has denied any wrongdoing. The matter is in the hands of the 10-member ethics panel after the independent Office of Congressional Ethics referred the case in late December.

Clint Eastwood had a "make my day" attitude about Hollywood agents, including his own representative, Leonard Hirshan. "If he didn't return a call, he would have been history!" the screen tough guy said this week. But then Eastwood laughed and said, sadly, "I'm just joking. Lenny always returned a call. " Hirshan was Eastwood's agent for more than 50 years, perhaps a record in Hollywood for a major star. It started when Hirshan was already an established agent with the all-powerful William Morris Agency, where over the years he represented stars such as Jack Lemmon, Angela Lansbury, Walter Matthau and Sophia Loren, and also negotiated film deals for the likes of Elvis Presley.

When Morrie Turner was just a cartoon-doodling kid in Oakland, he wrote a fan letter to the creator of the popular comic strip "Terry and the Pirates. " In return, Milton Caniff, who later created "Steve Canyon," sent young Turner a typed, six-page personal reply with pointers on story lines and drawing. "It changed my whole life," Turner told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2005. "The fact that he took the time to share all that with a kid, a stranger, didn't impress me all that much at the time.

The Clippers are back to making roster moves. After the second of Darius Morris' 10-day contracts expired following the game against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night, the Clippers decided not to sign the point guard for the rest of the season. Morris is a free agent and can sign with any team he desires. That now leaves the Clippers with a 14-man roster, clearing room for them to sign another player if they so choose. Morris played in 22 games for the Clippers during his short stay with the team.

Police said today that they arrested a Baptist minister as he tried to escape the country in the slayings of an American Baptist missionary and her 10-year-old daughter. A police spokesman said the Rev. Benjamin Moley Morris, 32, was arrested late Wednesday at Liberia's border with the Ivory Coast while trying to flee.

It is not enough to be able to skip the Hilburn articles; it is too distressing merely to know they exist. Surely someone else on The times staff can write about Springsteen from a more mature, more objective perspective. GREGORY A. MORRIS Riverside

The math is simple for Doc Rivers: Seven games in seven cities means he'll have to pack seven suits. The Clippers' coach gave up on mixing and matching outfits on long trips awhile back. "I tried that once," Rivers said, "and I thought I had black pants and the jacket was black and I almost got away with it and a player on another team noticed it. " The Clippers will also have to tote an extra set of uniforms after signing free-agent forward Hedo Turkoglu as expected Thursday, giving them a different look on a lengthy trip that starts Friday against the New York Knicks.

The Clippers signed former Lakers point guard Darius Morris on Monday night, barely an hour before their 101-81 victory over the Orlando Magic. Morris played just under eight minutes, scoring a single point with a rebound and assist. He missed all three of his shot attempts and split a pair of free throws. The Clippers needed to add a point guard after Chris Paul went down with a separated shoulder, knocking him out for six weeks. On a 10-day contract, Morris needs to quickly make an impression.